Qld Academy of Sport set to become statutory body under new laws
Laws to make the Queensland Academy of Sport an independent body are set to be introduced into State Parliament.
QLD Politics
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Laws to allow the Queensland Academy of Sport to be an independent body in the hopes it is better able to develop Olympians without being hampered by government bureaucracy will be introduced next week.
Minister for Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tim Mander said he would introduce legislation to Parliament to turn the leading institute into a statutory body.
It is currently a division of the Department of Sport and Tourism.
Calls for the academy to break away from the government were prompted by the high-profile resignation of CEO Chelsea Warr – dubbed the “gold medal maker” – who was understood to have been at loggerheads with executives within the Department of Sport.
Ms Warr quietly met Mr Mander’s chief of staff Kristin McGill late last year, in a sign the government is eyeing her return.
Mr Mander said “we are not dragging our feet” as he criticised the former Labor government for having taken its time modifying the structure when it had the chance.
Sports officials believe changes to the academy will be vital for Olympians’ preparation leading into the Los Angeles and Brisbane Olympics, amid concerns within the industry government bureaucracy was hurting performance potential.
The decision is part of the government’s intentions to prepare Queensland for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, and improve even further on the back of the Paris Olympics in which the Sunshine State brought home more than half of Australia’s 53 medals.
Mr Mander said the academy proved itself as the national leading sports institute since its establishment in 1991, but it needed changes in its organisational structure to enable longer-term competitive advantage.
“It’s time to give the QAS the autonomy and agility it needs to take its operations to the next level, and I am working to make sure that happens in 2025,” Mr Mander said.
“I have accelerated the transition because I know how critical this move is to the success of our athletes.”
Heavy-hitting sporting representatives such as NRL coaching great Wayne Bennett have urged an overhaul of the academy, believing high-performance strategies were being restricted by red tape.
Ms Warr sensationally quit as CEO last February, with multiple sources saying she had fought with bureaucrats on the academy’s operations.
“She (Chelsea) was determined to achieve excellence, and sometimes bureaucrats resent and struggle with that,” a source within the sporting industry said at the time.
“Most high-performance sports programs, whether for the Olympics or the NRL, need to be innovative, quick to adapt and fast in decision making – contrary to how some government departments work.”
Operations would not be affected in the transition, and the time frames would depend heavily on parliamentary processes, as well as further staff and industry consultation.
The Queensland Academy of Sport supports 530 athletes across 21 sporting programs.
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